Q&A: Baltimore Sun beat writer Matt Vensel

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) and inside linebacker Ray Lewis, right, celebrate near the end of the second half of the NFL football AFC Championship football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013. The Ravens won 28-13 to advance to Super Bowl XLVII. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) and inside linebacker Ray Lewis, right, celebrate near the end of the second half of the NFL football AFC Championship football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013. The Ravens won 28-13 to advance to Super Bowl XLVII. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
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Q: The Ravens ended their regular season with four losses in five games. Now, they're in the Super Bowl. Did you see this coming?

A: I can’t say that I did, honestly. It’s funny, I wrote after the comeback win over the Chargers that it looked like something special was happening with this team. But then the injuries continued to get worse, the Ravens changed offensive coordinators and the Ravens lost three games in a row, including a blowout to the Denver Broncos. I always preach that anything happens once you are in the tourney, and I thought the Ravens had a chance, but I didn’t think they had it in them to win in Denver and then in New England, too. They proved me and many others wrong.

Q: Put me in Baltimore. What's that city been like since the Ravens returned from Foxborough as AFC champions?

A: It has been full of energy, even more than usual in this football-crazed town. Immediately after the game, fans flooded the streets in Federal Hill, a popular neighborhood for nightlife. You can find video of that loud, but peaceful celebration online. There is purple everywhere. I expect a big crowd Monday morning when the city holds a rally to send the Ravens out to New Orleans.

Q: Ray Lewis missed the final 10 games before returning for the playoffs. The Ravens haven't lost since. Much gets made of what his on-field presence means to that locker room. How much merit do you see in that?

A: I think it gave this team a much-needed jolt when he announced it four days before hosting the Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card round. As you mentioned, they had lost four of their past five regular-season games, and this seemed to give the team a refined focus. I think the fact that Ray decided to retired when he did hammered home the point to some of the older guys -- I’m thinking Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata -- that the window closes on everyone someday. These guys are playing for Ray, sure, but more than anything, they are playing for their own glory, too.

Q: Joe Flacco outperformed Peyton Manning in Denver. He outperformed Tom Brady in New England. The whole "elite" quarterback discussion is an American obsession. At risk of adding to it, what do you think this playoff run says about the Ravens quarterback?

A: It says Flacco has become a quarterback who elevates his game when all the chips are on the table. Flacco has been in the playoffs in each of his five seasons, and because he was a young quarterback, one can understand why he was a little underwhelming his first two or three times to the postseason. These past two winters, though, Flacco has been great, and I think the perceptions about him would have changed a year ago had Lee Evans held onto that ball. Either way, though, Flacco has the Ravens in the Super Bowl this time, and with eight touchdowns and no interceptions, he is quietly having one of the best postseasons a quarterback has ever had.

5. What do you consider a key matchup for Baltimore in next Sunday's Super Bowl?

There are a bunch of really good ones, like Ray Lewis and the Ravens linebackers versus the 49ers tight ends, Haloti Ngata against a strong interior of their offensive line, and Aldon Smith versus Ravens offensive tackles Bryant McKinnie and Michael Oher. But the biggest of them all is dealing with Colin Kaepernick and the read-option plays that the 49ers run. There are differences between what the 49ers and Washington Redskins do, but the Ravens can learn from their loss to the Redskins in Week 14. They got whipped by the pistol in the first half before figuring it out as the game went on. If they can take that dimension away from the 49ers and Kaepernick, who can also beat you with his arm, I like their chances of winning this thing.